This amiably frank sex comedy from writer/director Patrick Brice opens with a couple’s disengaged lovemaking being interrupted by the arrival of their young son. Later, when the kid makes a new friend in the park, Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) meet Jason Schwartzman’s slappable hipster Kurt and find themselves invited over to his swanky pad for a playdate. Initially overwhelmed by the apparently idyllic carefree lifestyle of Kurt and Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), the new LA arrivals gradually realise that this invitation is something more than social. Or is it?
Brice’s movie is at its best when making the audience feel as awkward as its characters, leaving us as uncertain as them how to react to the displays of innocent/inappropriate behaviour. The look of bemusement on Emily’s face as the husbands embrace their variously endowed differences is shared by us – is this funny, tragic, empowering, or just horribly embarrassing?
Schwartzman does a nice line in creepy/needy self-satisfaction (his paintings of assholes strike a defining note) but Brice keeps a forgiving eye on his characters’ foibles, teasing rather eviscerating them to unexpectedly sympathetic ends.
